Who Was Alive
Selim II
16th century artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Selim II

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

Born 30 May 1524 · died 13 December 1574, aged 50
Also known as Selim the Blond, Selim the Drunk

Who was alive at the same time as Selim II?

  1. Vasco da Gama, c. 1464 – 1524
  2. Erasmus, 1466 – 1536
  3. Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469 – 1527
  4. Albrecht Dürer, 1471 – 1528
  5. Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473 – 1543
  6. Michelangelo, 1475 – 1564
  7. Thomas More, c. 1478 – 1535
  8. Martin Luther, 1483 – 1546
  9. Hernán Cortés, 1485 – 1547
  10. Mimar Sinan, c. 1490 – 1588
  11. Jacques Cartier, 1491 – 1557
  12. François Rabelais, 1494 – 1553
  13. Suleiman the Magnificent, 1494 – 1566
  14. John Calvin, 1509 – 1564
  15. Selim II, 1524 – 1574
  16. Michel de Montaigne, 1533 – 1592
  17. Elizabeth I, 1533 – 1603
  18. Akbar, 1542 – 1605
  19. Miguel de Cervantes, c. 1547 – 1616
  20. Giordano Bruno, 1548 – 1600
  21. Francis Bacon, 1561 – 1626
  22. Galileo Galilei, 1564 – 1642
  23. William Shakespeare, 1564 – 1616
  24. Johannes Kepler, 1571 – 1630

Drag across the timeline, or use the arrow keys, to see who was alive in any year and the age each person reached that year. Dashed lines mark world events. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.

When Selim II was born, Michelangelo was 49, Martin Luther was 40, Niccolò Machiavelli was 55, Nicolaus Copernicus was 51 and Albrecht Dürer was 53.

When Selim II died, William Shakespeare was 10, Galileo Galilei was 10, Elizabeth I was 41, Francis Bacon was 13 and Johannes Kepler was 2.

Born during Selim II’s lifetime: William Shakespeare, Galileo Galilei, Miguel de Cervantes, Elizabeth I, Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Akbar and Giordano Bruno.

Not quite contemporaries: Leonardo da Vinci died about 5 years before Selim II was born, Ferdinand Magellan died about 3 years before Selim II was born, Raphael died about 4 years before Selim II was born and Peter Paul Rubens was born about 3 years after Selim II died.

What happened in Selim II’s lifetime

Where Selim II’s contemporaries were born

Selim II is labelled; the others are the best-known people we track who lived at the same time. Each dot is a birthplace from Wikidata (78 of 81 placed); tap one to open that person.
Birthplaces as a list

Compare Selim II

The 150 best-known contemporaries

158 of the people we track were surely alive at the same time as Selim II. The 150 best known are listed here. See also everyone alive in 1549.

  1. William Shakespeare 1564 – 1616
  2. Galileo Galilei 1564 – 1642
  3. Michelangelo 1475 – 1564
  4. Martin Luther 1483 – 1546
  5. Miguel de Cervantes c. 1547 – 1616
  6. Niccolò Machiavelli 1469 – 1527
  7. Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 – 1543
  8. Elizabeth I 1533 – 1603
  9. Francis Bacon 1561 – 1626
  10. Albrecht Dürer 1471 – 1528
  11. Johannes Kepler 1571 – 1630
  12. Vasco da Gama c. 1464 – 1524
  13. Hernán Cortés 1485 – 1547
  14. Akbar 1542 – 1605
  15. Jacques Cartier 1491 – 1557
  16. Erasmus 1466 – 1536
  17. Suleiman the Magnificent 1494 – 1566
  18. Giordano Bruno 1548 – 1600
  19. Michel de Montaigne 1533 – 1592
  20. Mimar Sinan c. 1490 – 1588
  21. John Calvin 1509 – 1564
  22. François Rabelais 1494 – 1553
  23. Thomas More c. 1478 – 1535
  24. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 1500 – 1558
  25. Lope de Vega 1562 – 1635
  26. Tycho Brahe 1546 – 1601
  27. Nostradamus 1503 – 1566
  28. Francis Drake c. 1540 – 1596
  29. Henry VIII 1491 – 1547
  30. Ivan the Terrible 1530 – 1584
  31. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 1525 – 1594
  32. Caravaggio 1571 – 1610
  33. El Greco 1541 – 1614
  34. Luís de Camões c. 1525 – 1580
  35. Philip II of Spain 1527 – 1598
  36. Titian c. 1490 – 1576
  37. Teresa of Ávila 1515 – 1582
  38. Babur 1483 – 1530
  39. Mary, Queen of Scots 1542 – 1587
  40. Guru Nanak 1469 – 1539
  41. Paracelsus 1493 – 1541
  42. Ignatius of Loyola c. 1491 – 1556
  43. Anne Boleyn 1501 – 1536
  44. Henry IV of France 1553 – 1610
  45. Mary I 1516 – 1558
  46. Christopher Marlowe c. 1564 – 1593
  47. John Donne 1572 – 1631
  48. Huldrych Zwingli 1484 – 1531
  49. James VI and I 1566 – 1625
  50. Pope Gregory XIII 1502 – 1585
  51. Edward VI 1537 – 1553
  52. Torquato Tasso 1544 – 1595
  53. Pope Paul III 1468 – 1549
  54. Ludovico Ariosto 1474 – 1533
  55. Francis I of France 1494 – 1547
  56. Pieter Bruegel the Elder c. 1525 – 1569
  57. Pope Pius V 1504 – 1572
  58. Francisco Pizarro c. 1478 – 1541
  59. Catherine de' Medici 1519 – 1589
  60. Pope Urban VIII 1568 – 1644
  61. Francis Xavier 1506 – 1552
  62. Giorgio Vasari 1511 – 1574
  63. Pope Paul V 1552 – 1621
  64. Claudio Monteverdi 1567 – 1643
  65. Ben Jonson 1572 – 1637
  66. Hürrem Sultan c. 1507 – c. 1560
  67. Fuzuli c. 1488 – 1556
  68. Pope Pius IV 1499 – 1565
  69. Tintoretto 1519 – 1594
  70. Pope Leo XI 1535 – 1605
  71. Tokugawa Ieyasu 1543 – 1616
  72. John Napier 1550 – 1617
  73. Pope Clement VII 1478 – 1534
  74. Catherine of Aragon 1485 – 1536
  75. Andreas Vesalius 1514 – 1564
  76. Pope Clement VIII 1536 – 1605
  77. Pope Gregory XV 1554 – 1623
  78. Abbas the Great 1571 – 1629
  79. Pope Julius III 1487 – 1555
  80. Pope Sixtus V 1521 – 1590
  81. Pope Paul IV 1476 – 1559
  82. Pope Urban VII 1521 – 1590
  83. John of the Cross 1542 – 1591
  84. Jahangir 1569 – 1627
  85. Pope Innocent X 1574 – 1655
  86. Gerolamo Cardano 1501 – 1576
  87. Humayun 1508 – 1556
  88. William the Silent 1533 – 1584
  89. Philipp Melanchthon 1497 – 1560
  90. Oda Nobunaga 1534 – 1582
  91. Pope Gregory XIV 1535 – 1591
  92. Lady Jane Grey 1537 – 1554
  93. Murad III 1546 – 1595
  94. Andrea Palladio 1508 – c. 1580
  95. Paolo Veronese 1528 – 1588
  96. Willem Barentsz c. 1551 – 1597
  97. Hayreddin Barbarossa c. 1478 – 1546
  98. Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor 1503 – 1564
  99. Toyotomi Hideyoshi 1537 – 1598
  100. Edmund Spenser c. 1553 – 1599
  101. Guy Fawkes c. 1570 – 1606
  102. Pierre de Ronsard 1524 – 1585
  103. Henry III of France 1551 – 1589
  104. Tommaso Campanella 1568 – 1639
  105. Pope Marcellus II 1501 – 1555
  106. Charles IX of France 1550 – 1574
  107. Pope Innocent IX 1519 – 1591
  108. Mehmed III 1566 – 1603
  109. Tulsidas c. 1522 – 1623
  110. Gerardus Mercator 1512 – 1594
  111. Samuel de Champlain c. 1570 – 1635
  112. Francis de Sales 1567 – 1622
  113. Henry II of France 1519 – 1559
  114. Joanna of Castile 1479 – 1555
  115. Gustav Vasa 1496 – 1560
  116. Hans Holbein the Younger 1497 – 1543
  117. William Gilbert 1544 – 1603
  118. Walter Raleigh c. 1552 – 1618
  119. Boris Godunov 1552 – 1605
  120. Hernando de Soto c. 1500 – 1542
  121. Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 1552 – 1612
  122. Sigismund III Vasa 1566 – 1632
  123. Bartolomé de las Casas 1484 – 1566
  124. Atahualpa c. 1500 – 1533
  125. Francis II of France 1544 – 1560
  126. Étienne de La Boétie 1530 – 1563
  127. Margaret of Valois 1553 – 1615
  128. Marguerite de Navarre 1492 – 1549
  129. John Knox c. 1514 – 1572
  130. James V 1512 – 1542
  131. Michael Servetus 1511 – 1553
  132. Catherine Howard 1524 – 1542
  133. François Viète 1540 – 1603
  134. Benvenuto Cellini 1500 – 1571
  135. Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1527 – 1593
  136. Abraham Ortelius 1527 – 1598
  137. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor 1527 – 1576
  138. Anne of Cleves 1515 – 1557
  139. Sofonisba Anguissola 1532 – 1625
  140. Juan Sebastián Elcano c. 1486 – 1526
  141. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1486 – 1534
  142. Thomas Cranmer 1489 – 1556
  143. Bronzino 1503 – 1572
  144. Matteo Ricci 1552 – 1610
  145. Feodor I of Russia 1557 – 1598
  146. Elizabeth Báthory 1560 – 1614
  147. Luis de Góngora 1561 – 1627
  148. Georgius Agricola 1494 – 1555
  149. Jane Seymour 1508 – 1537
  150. Piri Reis c. 1470 – c. 1554